Yep, Mansbach Lead Terps at Lehigh

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Becky Yep and Hannah Mansbach finished two places apart with matching times of 22 minutes, 14 seconds Saturday to lead University of Maryland finishers at the Lehigh Paul Short Run.

Maryland finished in 40th place in the team standings in a field which included five nationally ranked teams out of the 48 which competed. The large field was drawn by the fact that Lehigh will host the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals on the same course in mid-November.

Yep, a senior who ran in Maryland’s top position last year at the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA regional championships, was back in the Terps’ No. 1 spot for the first time this season.

She finished 150th out of 406 finishers, two spots better than her freshman teammate. Mansbach had led the Terrapins to the line in each of the first two events this season.

Senior Julie Sinkovitz covered the 6-kilometer course in 22:53, making her first appearance of the season for Maryland. She cut over 90 seconds off her previous best on the Lehigh course.

Two Maryland runners – Myah Hicks and Maeve McCoy – did not finish the race. According to the Maryland coaching staff, they were among more than 40 participants overall who fell victim to uncharacteristic high heat and humidity.

At the time she dropped out of the race, Hicks was leading her other teammates, while McCoy was also in a scoring position.

“I think we had some bright spots that bode well for our races coming up,” said assistant coach Matthew Jelley. “Becky returned to form and Hannah continued her strong freshman campaign. I think Julie ran a solid race in her season debut.”

Defending champion Georgetown packed three finishers in the top 15 to earn the team championship once again. The Hoyas, ranked sixth in the nation last week, finished with 112 points to take the title, putting runners in 11th, 13th and 15th. Georgetown’s fourth finisher scored 26 points, at least 15 points better than any other team in the field.

Dartmouth, led by individual winner Abbey D’Agostino, finished second with 112 points. Eleventh-ranked Villanova was third with 168, 9th-ranked Cornell was fourth with 182 and Columbia was fifth at 203.

D’Agostino, a senior, finished the race in 19:44, and was the only participant under the 20-minute mark. She was 16 seconds better than Indiana senior Samantha Ginther. Columbia’s Waverly Neer was third in 20:15.

West Virginia (eighth) and Penn State (ninth) were also nationally ranked teams which competed in the College Gold division.

Two Terrapin freshmen ran in the Open Division event, as Alexa Squirini finished in 23:55 and Chardé Barnes went 24:06.

Maryland competes next on Oct. 19 at the Princeton Invitational. The Terrapins are preparing for the ACC Championships, to be held at Wake Forest on Nov. 1.